I Thought The Daytona 500 Was...

Another Daytona 500 has come and
gone…another two weeks of anticipation and waiting for what we call the biggest
race of the season…the Great American Race, and now it’s over, Denny Hamlin
wins with a last lap pass, and Joe Gibbs Racing shows that it’s probably going
to be a plate track powerhouse this season.

So I understand that some folks
out there aren’t the biggest fans of the racing we saw on Sunday at the 58th
running of the Daytona 500.That’s
understandable.You have fans that love
plate racing, some could take it or leave it, some tolerate it, some do not like
it, and some just flat out detest it.With a mixture like that, it’s not hard to understand the old line that
you can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of
the people all of the time.Completely understandable.

Or is it?

Well, come on kids, think about
it.It was the Daytona 500!It was the culmination of the first real
NASCAR Race Weekend we have had since November of last year.I for one missed it, but I always do over the
off-season.True, at the end of each
season I am ready for a bit of a break, which I get, but I’m sure I don’t need
THAT much of a break.I could do with a
month…maybe 6 weeks, but with the schedule we have now, when February rolls
around and the NFL season has been put to bed, I’m ready to go racing.

***

I was actually a little
disappointed in the lack of coverage, at least of what I saw during my six
hours of viewing, of the completion and finished product that is “Daytona
Rising.”I know it was addressed, but I feel
like it could have been more. I do wish
they would stop calling it a stadium, though.Bristol is a stadium.Bowman Gray
actually IS a stadium.Whatever they
want to do I guess is okay…it’s just words.

***

The “Racing Product,” as it has
become known, I thought was decent.Sure, there were long periods of one car out front for a while, but
there was plenty of jockeying for position in the subsequent ranks.Don’t believe me?Didn’t see it?If you recorded the race and still have the
playback available, watch the race at X2 or X3 speed, and watch how often the
cars in the top-o’-the-screen display change position.Sometimes it was like watching popcorn pop…but
hey, that’s just my opinion and we all know about those.

***

Can we stop with the grid
walk?It’s not really entertaining and
serves no real purpose.

***

During the race I flashed back to
“Star Wars: A New Hope.”I know, strange
segue, but hang with me.If you’re
familiar with the original holy trilogy, you’ll appreciate this, if not, hang
tight and we’ll return right after these messages.

In the movie, there is a point
where in order to get Princess Leia to tell the Empire where the hidden Rebel base
is located, they threaten to destroy her home planet of Alderaan.(Her birth planet was Mustafar,
but I suppose that’s like arguing whether Jeff Gordon’s home state is
California or Indiana.)Anyway, she
tells them where the base is.Well, not
really…she lies and gives them the wrong location of Dantooine.The Empire decides, “Ehhh…what
the heck…blow it up anyway.”So the
Death Star moves into position and the guys with the funny hats pull down those
levers that make the “boooooooo” noise, and green
lasers come out of the Death Star and converge on each other and create one
great big green laser, which shoots across the galaxy and destroys everything
Princess Leia knew as a child.Now, back
on the Millennium Falcon, which I have heard can make the Kessel run in less
than 12 parsecs, Obi-Wan Kenobi, so strong withthe Force, almost fell down and had to sit, weakened by a major loss.He was training our young hero, Luke
Skywalker, on the ways of the force when he was interrupted by this
tragedy.Luke, feeling something was
amiss with his mentor, asked what was wrong.Old Obi-Wan, so concerned, responded with this about the destruction of Alderaan:

“I felt a great disturbance in
the Force,” he said.“As
if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
I fear something terrible has happened.”

How odd was it that during this
year’s Daytona 500, I felt exactly the same way.And it was right about at this point…

If you were watching the
broadcast on TV, you may have seen the fellow bashing his Dale Jr. hat into the
seatback in front of him.Careful, buddy…those
are new seats.Why shouldn’t Earnhardt
Jr. fans be disappointed, or even upset?The Son of Seven Time has proven that he is a
force to deal with on the plate tracks, and he showed that this event was no
different as he won his qualifying race earlier in the week.Fear not, Earnhardt fans.Your favorite driver is in a place he may
have never been before; and that’s comfortable in the car with a crew chief
that gets him and much as he gets his crew chief.

***

It was good to see Brian Vickers
back in the race this week, even if it was for one race and the outcome was not
really what was desired.

***

And then there’s Chase
Elliott.History maker, pole sitter, lap
leader…crown wearer?Shoe filler? NASCAR
fans have done again what they always do, and that is bestow
upon a young driver the mantle of “The Next (Insert Great Driver Name Here.”Let me fill us all in on a little
secret.He’s not the next Dale
Earnhardt, he’s not the next Bill Elliott, and he’s not the next Jeff Gordon,
Richard Petty, Cole Whitt or Ryan Preece.Who he really is, is the first Chase
Elliott.Can we let him be that before
we turn him into someone else?

***

Kids, those are my thoughts on
this year’s 500.You may like it, you
may not, but for me, I thought the Daytona 500 was…exactly what it is supposed
to be, and that is a nice warm welcome back into a new season of NASCAR
racing.It felt like a nice hug from an
old friend.

Until next time, my friends...

Feel free to leave comments below, and be sure to follow me @RaceFansJim on Twitter, because sometimes I give stuff away!

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Race Fans Forever are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of Race Fans Forever. Race Fans Forever is not affiliated with NASCAR or any other motorsports sanctioning body in any form..